Kunene and the King

John Kani

• Publisher: Jonathan Ball
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN: 9781776191321
• eBook ISBN: 9781776191338
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: Theatre

'What lies beneath the apparent simplicity of Kunene and the King is a lot of moral, political and existential depth. This is testimony to the brilliance of John Kani.' – EUSEBIUS McKAISER

South Africa, 2019. Twenty-five years since the first post-apartheid democratic elections. Jack Morris is a celebrated classical actor who has just been given a career-defining role and a life-changing diagnosis. Lunga Kunene is a retired senior male nurse from Soweto now working for private patients. Besides their age, they appear not to have much in common. But a shared passion for Shakespeare soon ignites a 'rich, raw and shattering head-to-head' ( The Times ) as the duet from contrasting walks of life unpack the racial, political and social complexities of modern South Africa. Kunene and the King is a vital play that combines the magnificence of classic Shakespearean comedy, tragedy and history to reflect on a new yet deeply wounded society.

KUNENE

AND THE

KING

JOHN KANI

Jonathan Ball Publishers

Johannesburg • Cape Town • London

Praise for Kunene and the King

‘John Kani beautifully captures the complex divides of race,

class and politics in a remarkable and moving new play.’ – The Guardian

‘It’s electrified by its clear-eyed political reckoning, by passion

and by fine performances.’ – The Times (London)

‘They both deliver “Friends, Romans, countrymen”:

[Antony] Sher speaks in English, [John] Kani in Xhosa. Both

are powerful: Sher defiant, Kani radiant.’ – The Observer

‘Twenty-five years since apartheid ended, it’s fascinating

and necessary to see [John] Kani bring things up to date.’ – Financial Times

‘[John] Kani’s writing remains deeply incisive, full of both

anger and understanding.’ – The Stage

‘Antony Sher and John Kani impress in this transracial reckoning.’ – The Telegraph

‘Magnificent performances’ – WeekendSpecial

‘When John Kani writes and stars in a new play, you don’t miss it.

This is especially the case when this theatre great invites a couple

of other SA theatre luminaries to join him on his new journey –

Antony Sher as his co-star and Janice Honeyman to direct.’ – TimesLIVE

To my brother, the Reverend Welile Alfred Kani,

who died of liver cancer in December 2019

Contents

Title page

Praise for the title

Dedication

About the play

Author’s note

Preface by Gregory Doran

Introduction by Eusebius McKaiser

Kunene and the King

Characters

Scene one

Scene two

Scene three

About the book

About the author

Imprint page

About the play

Kunene and the King premiered at the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) in Statford-upon-Avon on 21 March 2018. It was directed by Janice Honeyman and produced by Eric Abraham in collaboration with The Fugard Theatre and the RSC. Thereafter, it was performed in Cape Town at the Fugard Theatre in June 2019 and at The Ambassadors Theatre in London in January 2020. The cast was as follows:

Lunga Kunene John Kani

Jack Morris Antony Sher

On-stage musician Lungiswa Plaatjies

I would like to thank the RSC for giving me the opportunity to develop the script and do extensive research on cancer as a disease, meeting oncologists and carers at hospice facilities.

John Kani

Author’s note

My first real introduction to Shakespeare was in 1959, when my teacher, Mr Budaza, walked into our classroom, looking very proud and said: ‘Today we are going to study one of William Shakespeare’s most important plays, Julius Caesar, translated into Xhosa by WB Mdledle.’ It was like a revolution of knowledge had come into our lives. However, the purpose of having this play taught to us in our native language was to show that if we dared to rise against the establishment – the government – we would all suffer pain and failure, like Brutus and the conspirators who were ultimately defeated by the army of the state.

But Mr Budaza taught us differently. He told us that Caesar was ambitious and did not care about the rule of the majority. He was a dictator and would fall, just like the apartheid government of the Afrikaners would fall. Nevertheless, our teacher warned us that...

Table of contents

• 9781776191338